Airlines warned not to profit from Monarch
The Government ordered airlines not to raise prices following the collapse of Monarch. Accusations of rip-off price rises came despite Chris Grayling, the Transport Secretary, having written asking rival operators not to take advantage. One customer said the quoted price on the Ryanair website rose from £138 to £199 per person in the time it took to finish the booking. It has also emerged that the Government had been warned that the airline – the UK’S fifth biggest – faced financial ruin and has been planning for its collapse for a month.
THE Government has issued a warning to airlines asking them not to raise prices to profit from the Monarch collapse, as customers accused firms of doubling prices within minutes.
It has also emerged that the Government was pre-warned that the airline – the UK’S fifth biggest – faced financial ruin and has been planning for its collapse for a month.
The coordinated mission currently under way to rescue 111,000 Britons stranded abroad has been long in the making, with the Government having been briefed on the firm’s perilous financial position weeks ago, The Daily Telegraph understands.
The revelation is likely to anger holidaymakers who were lured into booking with Monarch just three days ago, after it advertised “payday” sale prices.
Accusations of rip-off price hikes from other airlines came yesterday despite Chris Grayling, the Transport Minister, having written to airlines asking them not to take advantage of passengers.
Prices were allegedly increased as desperate passengers tried to rebook flights. One customer said they rebooked flights to Alicante and saw the quoted price on the Ryanair website rise from £138 to £199 per person in the time it took to complete the booking.
Ryanair’s Kenny Jacobs said: “Ryanair’s fares are only coming down this winter.”
Yesterday Monarch became the biggest case of an airline collapsing in UK history when it lost its licence and went into administration.
Despite weeks of preparation for the possibility of going bust, the airline was texting customers on Friday last week, with messages which read “Hooray for payday!”, offering thousands of flights to Spain and Portugal for as little as £30. The firm also emailed customers with special offers days before it lost its Atol protection status from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). It dramatically changed tactics on Sunday, when it quadrupled the price of flights in the lead-up to it losing its license, in a last-ditch bid to deter customers from booking.
The collapse of the UK’S fifth biggest airline has hit more than 860,000 passengers, around 111,000 of whom are overseas. The CAA has sent a fleet of aircraft to rescue stranded passengers from 11 different countries around the world, free of charge.
When asked why customers were not informed about the potential collapse weeks ago when experts were drafted in to rescue the firm, Blair Nimmo from KPMG, Monarch’s administrator, said: “What was hoped was that it would never come to this.
“The directors have all been working hard to avoid an insolvency and right up until Saturday and Sunday that is what they thought they were going to achieve.”